You’ve listed your place for rent, welcomed potential tenants to the showings, and sorted through dozens of rental applications. You’ve finally narrowed down your top choices, and you’re running through your final checklist of tenant requirements. Up next? Checking landlord and employment references. 

What initially seems like a simple task turns out to be a frustrating and time-consuming game of endless follow-ups. Plus, how do you know the person you finally contact is a real reference? 

To make this process easier, SingleKey offers services to verify landlord and employment references for you. Here’s how we validate references, how we can help save you time, and why these checks are important factors when choosing your next tenant.  

What are landlord and employment reference checks?  

Landlord and employment reference checks are completed by asking a rental applicant’s landlord and employer a series of questions to understand the potential tenant better. Their contact details are provided by the tenant. 

These reference checks give you valuable insight into your future tenant, including how they’ll likely treat your property, if there were any issues during their previous tenancy, and how financially stable they are. Speaking with landlord and employment references is also a great way to verify a tenant’s identity.

How do SingleKey’s landlord and employment reference checks work? 

SingleKey takes on the manual effort of vetting references by contacting them for you. This means you’re not dealing with missed calls and endless follow-ups, or juggling note-taking while trying to ask the right questions.

On SingleKey’s reference calls, our team gathers specific information like the tenant’s job title, their employment dates, rental payment history, and any relevant details that would reflect how they may behave as a renter. You’ll then get the following items as part of our services:

• Landlord Reference Check Report: This detailed summary includes key answers about the tenant’s track record with rent payments, if any terms of the lease were violated, and if there were any issues during their tenancy. SingleKey will also capture additional notes from the landlord’s impression of the tenant, as well as a complete log of our attempts to contact the reference.
  See a sample Landlord Reference Check Report here.

• Employer Reference Check Report: Similar to the Landlord Reference Check Report, we’ll record the number of times and which methods we tried to contact the reference, as well as the employer’s answers to important questions, like the tenant’s employment status and their dates of employment.
  See a sample Employer Reference Check Report here. 

• Call Recording: Each report comes with a full audio recording of the reference check conversation, so you can listen to it at your convenience.

How does SingleKey confirm the authenticity of the reference?

We ask targeted questions that only a genuine landlord or employer would be able to answer. Our verification process is enhanced by a line of questioning that is tailored and open-ended, which we’ve developed through extensive testing to draw out deeper insights. 

We also pay close attention to the tone and consistency of the answers to help gauge how strong or involved the reference’s relationship is or was to the tenant. This comprehensive approach helps us ensure that the information you receive is both reliable and trustworthy.

How long does it take to complete the landlord and employment reference checks? 

Typically, you’ll get the results from the reference checks within 2 to 5 business days. This may vary based on how quickly the landlord or employer responds.

What if you can’t reach the landlord or employer? 

If we can’t get hold of the landlord or employer right away, we try multiple times to contact them. We’ll make up to three attempts using different methods like phone calls or emails to try and connect. If we’re still unable to reach them, we’ll let you know and suggest next steps to get you the information you need.

What are the benefits of SingleKey’s landlord and employment reference checks? 

Save time and ensure accuracy

We make the entire process of collecting and investigating references easier and faster. Instead of chasing down landlords or employers and playing phone tag, we handle everything for you. Our communication is professional and consistent, and we take extra steps to verify the authenticity of the references. 

Real insights to make more informed decisions 

Our landlord and employment reference checks are a deepdive into how well the provided contact knows the tenant as a renter and as an employee. This means that you’ll get firsthand, direct knowledge about potential tenants to create a clear and accurate picture of the person’s history.

We’ve had many examples where these reference conversations have produced important details about the prospective tenant:

• In one case, a reference shared positive feedback, noting the tenant consistently paid rent on time, kept the unit clean, and would be welcomed by the reference again as their renter. 
• In another instance, an employer gave favorable information, confirming the individual was a reliable employee and a valued team member. 
• In a different instance, the reference revealed one late rent payment and possible unauthorized individuals residing in the unit.

A legally compliant process 

We take our landlord and employment reference checks seriously. The questions asked during our reference calls adhere to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). All reference details are strictly confidential, and as a SOC 2 Type 2 compliant company, our users’ data is protected under the highest standards of data security compliance in the world. 

Our final thoughts

Landlord and employment reference checks are challenging because they take so much time and effort. Asking thorough questions and ensuring that the contact is the tenant’s actual landlord or employer adds even more barriers to the process. 

That’s why having an experienced team like SingleKey complete your landlord and employment reference checks makes such a difference. You’ll get all the essential insights that you need (minus the legwork) to screen your potential tenants properly, which helps you decide who your perfect tenant will be. 

Our landlord and employment reference checks are now available as add-ons to the Tenant Screening Report, so log in to the SingleKey platform to take advantage of this service.